Is this unprofessional and tacky?

[Shanna M. Strouse]

There are a number of signing companies that I have worked for and have not gotten any call from recently and I have been toying with the idea of calling them and saying hey I am still out here do you have any closings in my area? is this unprofessional and tacky? What do the rest of you think of this proposal?

[Tim Gatewood]

It is just good business practice to contact your clients from time to time and see if there is anything you can do for them. They change employees, officers, owners, and the new folks may not know you or even know that you exist. Also, they go out of business or merge with other companies -- you have to work your clients as much as you can, if you hope to keep a decent flow of work coming in. This is where so many organizations fall down -- they focus on recruiting people and ignore the necessities of what it takes to retain the ones they already have. We have to be smarter than that.

What you may consider is what you want to say when you call them. Give them a reason for interrupting their day -- such as you are having a sale (5 paid assignments get you 1 free one, $5 off the first 5 in one month, whatever you think you can afford). Or they have now qualified for your A-List and get the following goodies (same stuff - whatever you can afford). If you just call to ask how they are doing and if they have work, that may work -- but the giving them a good reason for calling will be more likely to get positive results.